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Hugel

The Hugels' classic riesling vendange tardive is made from the family several parcels of vines in the grand cru Schoenenbourg, the steep south-facing vineyard, rich in marl, limestone and sandstone, that looms over the town of Riquewihr. The Schoenenbourg, one of the region's most famous vineyards since the 16th century and known especially for the quality of its riesling, typically yields rich, highly aromatic wines, and has a long history of producing outstanding late-harvest wines when climatic conditions are conducive. "For us, vendange tardive means botrytis," explains Hugel's marketing director Etienne Hugel. "The wines age on a combination of their terroir, their acidity and the amount of botrytis they possess, which concentrates the sugars and acids in the grapes. Ideally, we like a fast attack of noble rot, as in the true botrytis years of 1995, 1989 and 1976." The Hugels, who do not use the grand cru names on their labels, benefit from a high average vine age in Schoenenbourg. Most of the vineyard plots that typically provide fruit for the vendange tardive bottling were replanted in the early '20s, as they then featured what Hugel described as "bad hybrid vines." But since that major replanting, the vines have been replaced only as needed. The evolution of the Hugel Riesling VT has tracked the evolution of Alsace wine in general over the past generation. "We made the older style up to about 1981; these were great food wines, ideal with rich fish and lobster dishes," Hugel explained. "Then, by about 1989, with growing competition in the region for richer, late-harvest wines, we had to take our VT to the next level, picking riper and riper. With the new style, which begins with more residual sugar, we'll have to wait 30 years for the sweetness and richness to be integrated into the wine. Today's wines are still perfect accompaniments to fish and shellfish, as well as white meats, but they also have the character and finesse to be savored on their own." I tasted a series of 13 vintages dating back to 1935 with Etienne Hugel in New York this April. I fleshed out the list of vintages with the '96, '88 and '83 when I visited the Hugel headquarters in Riquewihr a couple weeks later to taste current vintages with Etienne and his brother Marc, who is Hugel's winemaker. Incidentally, the 1959 was the earliest of these wines to indicate vendange tardive on the label. Hugel is fairly certain that the '45 and '35 were originally designated "Reserve Personnelle" or "Reserve Exceptionelle."

From Three Vertical Tastings (Sep 2001) by Stephen Tanzer

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1996 Riesling Vendange Tardive

Color: Sweet White

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Hugel

1996 Riesling Vendange Tardive

1990 Riesling Vendange Tardive

1997 Riesling Vendange Tardive

1998 Riesling Vendange Tardive

1989 Riesling Vendange Tardive

1988 Riesling Vendange Tardive

1983 Riesling Vendange Tardive

1981 Riesling Vendange Tardive

1976 Riesling Vendange Tardive

1961 Riesling Vendange Tardive

1945 Riesling Vendange Tardive

1995 Riesling Vendange Tardive

1935 Riesling Vendange Tardive

1971 Riesling Vendange Tardive

1959 Riesling Vendange Tardive

1966 Riesling Vendange Tardive

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